MOSES LAKE — As the 10-second countdown begins for the start of the Moses Lake Lions Club’s Easter egg hunt Zachery Preciado, 4, plots the best available course to ensure he finds the most eggs. When the countdown reaches five seconds Zachery readies himself like a sprinter about to take off from the starting blocks. Then it happens, the countdown reaches zero and Zachery is off, eagerly, yet casually collecting his fair share of those bright plastic eggs until his basket is overflowing.

Zachery was just one of hundreds of children who attended the Easter weekend staple event at McCosh Park. With more than 6,000 Easter eggs spread out through the park the event proved once again to be a tremendous undertaking for the Lions Club. But for club members the hard work was worth it simply to see the joy of the children as they raced across the park filling up their baskets.

“This is sort of a tradition for us here at McCosh Park and the Lions Club. It’s the way we show our involvement in the community in a more obvious fashion,” Lions Club President William West explained.

McCosh Park was divided into different age groups for children up to 11, with sections available for kids to participate with or without the assistance of a parent. Participants started arriving at the park as much as an hour early to scope out the best spot and survey the lay of the land before the hunt began.

The hunt itself only lasted about two minutes, with all 6,000-plus eggs quickly finding their way into a basket. After the excitement died down a lot of the participants stuck around, however, eagerly digging into their baskets and tearing open and enjoying the contents of their eggs. But that enjoyment for the kids took weeks of preparation and hard work on behalf of the Lions Club, said West.

“We raise the funds for the hunt ourselves and gather donations from members, with some of our fundraising money going toward today. A majority of the money raised is just Lions Club members donating their own money,” West stated. “All of the time it took to fill the eggs, we did all that and have had work parties that lasted between two and three hours where all we did was put eggs together. We have been doing this for decades and plan to keep on doing it for decades to come.”

Richard Byrd can be reached via email at city@columbiabasinherald.com.